How U.S. Labor Law Fails Agricultural Workers

By Caroline Boschetto

The Law Students on Workers’ Rights series publishes essays from current and incoming students from top law schools across the country. These essays, submitted for the Charles E. Joseph Employment Law Scholarship, address the question “What is the most significant challenge facing workers’ rights, and what role should employment attorneys play in addressing that challenge?”

The systematic exploitation of agricultural workers in the United States constitutes one of the most egregious affronts to workers’ rights in the modern era. Not only are farmworkers afforded fewer legal protections compared to nearly all other labor groups, but the rights which farmworkers do hold under U.S. employment law are violated at unparalleled rates. Because many farmworkers are immigrants and non-English speaking, many labor rights violations in agriculture go unreported due to fear of retaliation and a lack of access to legal support. Thanks in part to the tireless work of labor rights attorneys; however, farmworkers have achieved important legal and legislative wins in recent years, particularly in Washington state. Nevertheless, there is still much work left for employment attorneys to do to help bolster the rights of farmworkers. 

Since its inception, the United States has relied on foreign and non-white labor to sustain the agricultural industry. Slavery (1619-1865), and the subsequent historical chapters of sharecropping (1865-1950s), the Bracero program (1942-1964), and the British West Indies Temporary Alien Labor Program (1943-1986) paved the way for modern norms around the nature of agricultural labor. The industry and our nation’s lawmakers have long cited the concept of “agricultural exceptionalism” to justify exempting farmworkers from vital labor protections. 

When the National Labor Relations Act (NLRA) was drafted in the 1930s, farmworkers were intentionally excluded in order to appease politicians who opposed labor protections for Black workers who made up a significant portion of the agricultural workforce. Farmworkers are still excluded from protections under this federal legislation, and as a result, do not have the right to organize or bargain collectively. 

Additionally, the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) exempts farmworkers from federal overtime protections, as well as minimum wage protections in some cases. Furthermore, child labor laws offer weaker protections for minors working in agriculture, allowing children as young as 12 to work unlimited hours outside of school. The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) is also prohibited from enforcing safety rules on farms with fewer than 10 employees, reducing safety oversight in this high-risk industry.

Despite the fact that farmworkers today are afforded a level of legal protection, a lack of oversight and recourse have resulted in rampant violations of farmworker labor rights, at the expense of workers’ health and wellbeing. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, in 2022, workers in the agriculture, forestry, fishing, and hunting industry had one of the highest fatality rates of any industry, with a death rate of 18.6 per 100,000, compared to the national average of 3.7 deaths per 100,000 across all industries. In 2015, 27-year old Washington-based farmworker Randy Vasquez drowned in an unmarked pool of manure due to unsafe working conditions. His employer, Riverview Ranch Dairy was fined just $2,200, a figure that is telling of the value the industry and justice system places on a farmworker’s life. 

Wage theft is also a predominant issue in the agricultural sector, exacerbating the struggles of low wage rates and high levels of poverty. According to 2020 data from the U.S. Department of Labor’s Wage and Hour Division (WHD), 70% agricultural employers who have been audited were found to have violated wage and hour laws. 

Employment attorneys dedicated to labor justice have a responsibility to continue collaborating with farmworkers, local advocacy organizations, and legislators to support efforts for farmworker labor justice. Attorneys play a vital role in rectifying our legal and regulatory systems’ shortcomings through efforts including litigating cases against offending employers, supporting farmworker unions in navigating legal processes, and collaborating with legislators and advocates to draft legislation to increase farmworker protections. 

In recent years, legal and legislative wins for farmworkers, specifically in Washington state, have demonstrated the effectiveness of these methods of legal advocacy. In 2015, the Washington State Supreme Court ruled in the case of Demetrio v. Sakuma Bros. Farms that farmworkers are entitled to paid rest breaks. With the support of local attorneys, Familias Unidas por la Justicia, Washington’s only independent farmworker union, formed in 2013 and signed a collective bargaining agreement in 2017. In 2021, the Washington State Legislature passed Senate Bill 5172, granting farmworkers overtime protections. 

In order to best support farmworker communities in pursuits of justice, it is critical that attorneys are capable of navigating the complex variables of immigration, poverty, and cultural and language factors. It is essential that the agricultural industry, the justice system, and the attorneys who navigate it continue taking steps to fight exploitation and pave the way for a food system that respects the rights and dignity of its workers.

Reflections from Charles Joseph

Farmworkers have long labored under a different set of protections than other workers. Exempted from key federal protections in the FLSA and NLRA, agricultural workers have fewer tools to protect their rights, leaving them vulnerable to exploitation. 

Boschetto powerfully argues that our country’s history of exploiting foreign and non-white agricultural workers continues to shape their rights today. Her essay is an important reminder that employment lawyers need to understand the overlapping forces of history and the law to fight for workers’ rights. 

Caroline Boschetto holds a bachelor’s degree in international affairs and has spent years working for a farmworker advocacy organization in Washington state. She will attend Northeastern University School of Law in Fall 2026. Boschetto is also the winner of the Charles E. Joseph Employment Law Scholarship for 2026. Contact Boschetto on LinkedIn. 

Charles Joseph has over two decades of experience fighting for workers’ rights as an NYC employment attorney. He is the founding partner of Joseph and Kirschenbaum, a firm that has recovered over $200 million for clients.